Month: July 2016

10am: This morning we started off Adams with Slice, a minke whale. We got some great looks then headed off to Whitehorse to see some birds and Head Harbour Passage to look for porpoise and maybe a minke…we found 2 minkes! Then after the boat traffic cleared we made our way off Bliss to get a look at a finback, and while we were watching the fin we could see another fin whale blowing a few miles away and within 20 minutes that other whale had joined up with the first! We got some incredible looks.

Slice, a minke whale

Fin whale with Head Harbour Light in the background

Second finback that showed up this morning.

1:30pm: This afternoon we had some of the best finback sightings of the season so far! Both fin whales were still in the area feeding heavily and they were not going far. They surfaced off our bow repeatedly and the water was so calm and with the sun shining we could see the whales right under the water before they surfaced. Amazing sightings!!

Fin whale

photographing a fin whale from the lower deck of the Quoddy Link. I did get the passenger in the photo on purpose

SIGHTINGS UPDATE for July 21/16
10am: What a beautiful morning with some of the BEST porpoise sightings of the season. We started in Head Harbour Passage is flat calm waters and the sun was shining and the porpoise and birds were feeding on a bait ball! Amazing looks at these small cetaceans. We knew there was a fin whale close but we wanted to avoid the boat traffic so we spent time with a minke, Slice first then made our way to Bliss to see the finback.

harbour porpoise

harbour porpoise

Finback whale off Bliss

Finback off Bliss

1:30pm: With the very start of the ebb we thought we would try and find the finback first. The wind had increased and the tide had turned so we had some sea to deal with but we everyone did wonderfully and we got some great looks at the large fin whale before heading over to Head Harbour where we found Slice the minke whale again.

We do have an evening departure, it’s just not back yet and I have not heard from the boat!

We have been spending time with the same large finback on the flood tide but right now he is a little hard to locate on the ebb. There have been many minke whales sighted around and the number of harbour porpoise seems to be increasing.

Here are some images from the past few days

minke whale

Fin whale off Bliss

minke whale

Harbour seals

Photographing harbour porpoise from the Quoddy Link

Healing progression on a shark bite wound on a harbour seal.

Thanks for checking in. I want to mention we are seeing lots of seabirds as well, the nesting is still very active on Whitehorse I just don’t have any images to share. The young eaglets are still in the nest as well.

SIGHTINGS UPDATE for July 15, 2015
10am: We had some fog to deal with so we took Western Passage out into the Bay, the visibility improved but it wasn’t until the very end of the trip, well into the ebb tide that a fin whale showed up off Head Harbour. We also saw lots of seals and harbour porpoise.
1:30pm: We had some stronger SW but hearty passengers as we headed right off Head Harbour and we got a very brief look a minke but we knew the time of the tide wasn’t the greatest so we headed off to seals and bald eagles and let the tide flood a little. The birds groups built up (we saw about a dozen northern gannets and even some sooty and great shearwaters) and then we had 2 minke whales (Slice and another) who swam side by side the entire time we stayed with them. In my 15 years with Quoddy I have never seen 2 minke whales swim side by side like that….was so wonderful to see!!
THANK YOU to everyone who joined us today!!
Cheers,
Danielle

Hello everyone, Danielle with Quoddy Link Marine back from a gorgeous day on the bay of Fundy!

We have been seeing minke whales and the same large fin whale on most departures. This morning we only got a brief look a minke and we did not consider it a “sighting” so we did offer our passengers a voucher to join us again for free.

This afternoon we headed offshore and spent time with that large finback off South Wolf! It was so great to be out offshore and we also spotted out first shearwaters of the season, three manx shearwaters.

Here are some photos from today off South Wolf.

Fin whale

Fin whale approaching the Quoddy Link

Thank you to everyone who has joined us the past few days aboard the cat!!

Hello everyone, Danielle with Quoddy Link Marine here back for my 15th season (the 22nd season for Quoddy!!). I am a little late to get these updates started (SORRY!!) but they will be here on a regular basis now, a few times a week but there are always daily updates and photos on our Facebook page

We have had a wonderful start to our 2016 season with finback and/or minke whales sighted on almost every departure, and if a whale is not sighted out policy is to give our passengers a voucher to come again with us for free!

Here are some whale images from the past few weeks.

Finback whale

Minke

Fin whale

minke whale

Fin whale

Fin whale

Passenger photographing a finback from the foredeck of the Quoddy Link

Harbour porpoise

The seal sightings have been fantastic with great numbers of both harbour and grey seals.

harbour seals

grey seals

The nesting on Whitehorse has been incredible with great numbers of black-legged kittiwakes. There is some evidence that a pair of razorbills may have even nested on the Island.

Herring gulls and chicks

Eider ducks and chicks

Razorbill on Whitehorse Island

We have 2 bald eagles nests in the area that are easy to see from the boat with young eaglets still in the nest.

This young seal will learn quickly not to play with her food in front of a bald eagle (the bald eagle stole part of the fish)

This bald eagle actually took a piece of a fish out of a seals mouth.

Taking the fish back to the nest on Campobello

Thank You for checking in and again sorry for the delay in the updates. I will be posting here a few times a week but don’t forget to check out our Facebook page for daily updates and pictures.

Cheers,

Danielle

Blog Editor Profile – Danielle

I have been working for Quoddy Link Marine since 2002. I graduated from the University of Guelph with an honors BSc. in Marine Biology. I'm in charge of photographing, identifying and recording the whales that we see and sharing that information with Center for Coastal Studies in Provincetown, MA and the Grand Manan Whale and Seabird Research Station on Grand Manan, NB. It's a privilege to have the opportunity to spend the amount of time I do on the water with the whales, they are absolutely amazing creatures.

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